Could Tom Cruise Replace Johnny Depp as Whitey Bulger in Black Mass?

"Someone is suing someone at the end of this.”

Is Johnny Depp playing Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger in the movie Black Mass or not? As THR points out, it depends on who you ask. Depp reportedly dropped out of the project recently after he was asked to take a salary cut from $20 million to $10 million.

But now the trade says Depp's reps and the film's producers are back at the negotiating table.When the budget crept up to $63 million from $50 million, financiers Cross Creek and Exclusive Media asked Depp, director Barry Levinson and co-star Joel Edgerton to take pay cuts to make up the difference. Depp balked and walked, or maybe he just balked. Again, it depends on who you ask.

Some sources say Depp definitely walked away from the project and that the movie's essentially dead, while others claim they're hopeful a new deal can be made. Depp was to have begun shooting Black Mass in Boston on August 12.

According to THR, "a source close to Levinson was surprised by Depp's supposed reversal and know of no change in the situation since Depp bolted last week. Everyone is assuming the current incarnation of the movie is dead. CAA, which reps Cross Creek, has approached client Tom Cruise about the project, according to another source (Levinson directed Cruise in Rain Man). But a Cross Creek source says the financiers are trying to find a solution with Depp. The actor would earn somewhere around $15 million if the two sides can come to terms."

Time is running out for the project since Levinson needs to know within two weeks if Depp is aboard or replaced as he's committed to a February start date on another picture.

“This situation is absurd,” a source told THR. “You would never have a star of Depp’s magnitude and not have all of the deal’s preconditions buttoned down before taking it to market. Either his team screwed up and left him exposed or Cross Creek is simply reneging on its deal. Someone is suing someone at the end of this.”

Meanwhile, the murder and racketeering trial of Whitey Bulger, 83, commenced this week in Boston.

Source : ign[dot]com